New Evangelism Program Launched
Episcopal News Service. May 2, 1985 [85092]
Donald E. Becker, Diocese of West Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Kansas (DPS, May 2) -- "This is what training in the Church should be. In the past, we have sometimes been inarticulate about God in our training. Now, that has changed." So the Rev. George Reynolds, bishop-elect of the Diocese of Tennessee, summed up an experimental evangelism program in which he participated as a group leader.
Held here April 14-19 under the direction of the evangelism officer of the Episcopal Church Center, the Rev. A. Wayne Schwab, the meeting began the second phase of the program intended to explore and teach a new approach in evangelistic work. If the application phase in the congregation goes well, succeeding conferences will be offered in 1986.
What is being brought into the evangelism structure is a system of "intentionally used consultant teams to work out evangelism programs with congregations of the Church." Entry will occur after a preliminary congregational call and visit by the consultants, with diocesan evangelism goals in mind. Three teams of two persons each from a number of dioceses were trained in the new approach. The goal, in terms of membership in this (and any succeeding conference), was to have representatives from at least one diocese in each of the Church's Provinces. In projected meetings on the east and west coasts, efforts will again be made to draw widely.
Consultation and training are central to the development of the new evangelism profile. Under the plan, a team will become associated with a congregation that desires help in learning evangelism ministry. The team will work for whatever time is necessary -- six to twelve months, or longer -- to help the congregation. The developers of the method are very insistent that the team will not come in with a program but rather will help the "client parish" to reflect on its situation and from its own deliberations bring intentional evangelism into the life of the congregation.
The consultant team will make available the learnings and experiences of other Episcopal congregations to help their client churches formulate plans of action. That formulation requires the training needed to carry out plans, and client churches receive monthly consultations during the goal implementation period. The consultants and the churches agree to work as fellow learners -- neither has all the answers. Both must want to learn.
It is planned to have indigenous teams of consultants from local dioceses in place as soon as possible, it being felt that they can associate more quickly with the needs and goals and deal with the facts -- economic and social, as well as "churchly" -- in an expeditious way.
The difference in this consultant approach is that there will not be a superimposed design, but one starting with the "client congregation where it actually is." This was repeated a number of times during the meeting.
In an interview, Reynolds noted how this approach will be of use in his diocesan work. "It will be so beneficial to help a parish to see and verbalize its needs and its commitment, as well. The method of entry will vary. Some will ask. Some will hint... they must be helped to find out where they are... and develop evangelism goals unique to the place." The bishop-elect also praised the program's recognition that there "may be different levels of interest within a place; and this new approach recognizes the wide variety of local conditions that are in fact in the Church."
The term, "an outsider for the insider" was used by the Rev. Henry L. H. Myers of Florence, Ala., in reference to the consultant's role. In that position, the function would involve working with interested persons and being available to help in development of local programs -- but always "with a very soft touch", oriented to helping the congregation to both learn and achieve. The consultant fills diverse functions but is not the "driver": helping; helping to consider alternatives; finding and using resources; making the best of every ability.
One speaker gave what might be called a goal statement when he said, "The consultant must be an evangelism mid-wife seeking to help the 'clients' to move away from being passive to becoming active evangelists."
Carolyn Waller, a member of the team from the Diocese of Eastern Oregon and a teacher/trainee/consultant of adults working with pre-school children, was very interested and excited about the consultant teams. Reflecting on the program, she noted that out of phase I she got an overview and training in evangelism, while this second phase, just ended, gave her new insight and skills in the consultation process when it involves evangelism. "I now have consulting methods in the evangelism context...my own skill process can be applied to evangelism." She concluded, "I like the ideas; I can and will function as an evangelism consultant."